Bought a "New" Soldering Station

[CJ]

picked up another Weller mag switcher on evilbay for fifty smackers , man, i love these things, when i opened up the box i had to take a leak,  ;D  that's how excited i was,

well, if you suffered with thermistor junk and crappy tips at work all your life, wtf, over?

tips will last decades, not years or months if you treat them right and don't use them for pry bars,

meant for commercial use so they do not mind being left on,

magnet inside tip gets hot and loses magnetism after reaching Curie temperature which releases spring loaded breaker, when it cools, magnetism returns and pulls in breaker for more heat, you can hear it clicking away as you work,

nice silicone cord does not tangle like black cords,

they still make tips which has an alloy at the base manufactured for a specific Curie temperature for attracting the magnet,

one problem is the newer tips have shrunk in diameter a bit and will not be retained by the barrel,
so either get a new barrel of NOS tips , 

heat range is controlled by the tip,  numbers are stamped on the bottom, usually 6,7 or 8.

7 is the way to go.

if you ever get tired of shelling out for tips then im jus sayin...


here is a cool site with some history>

http://www.stevenjohnson.com/soldering/history.htm

 

[CJ]

DIY!

 

[Tubetec]

Ive two of the weller stations as well, solder and desoldering with foot opperated vacum , I must try and find some new parts for them at this stage but their fairly indestructable under normal usage.
The home made gun looks great ,I always keep a 100 watt close by ,hard to beat for tag/turret boards and point to point stuff,silly to run a small 25 watt solder pen full throttle to try and solder wide gauge wires etc. Theres more heat  in a cupfull of luke warm water than in a teaspoon full of boiling water .

 

[ruffrecords]

I don't like Weller soldering irons. The techs used them for donkeys years at work so I treated myself to one when I retired. Damn thing would never get hot enough. The one I bought went obsolete and so you could no longer get tips for it. Didn't fancy shelling out a load of dosh for a new one. So I went back to my first love - Antex. Nice compact iron, will heat anything and melt the solder quickly and evenly. Current model so I could get lots of different size/shape bits.

Cheers

Ian

 

[JohnRoberts]

I had a weller that gave good service for several decades, I bought it new in the 70s and used it well into this century. I even used it for some SMD rework until finally getting the right tools for that different task.

The original weller line cord was replaced once decades ago and iron probably still worked when I retired it. Good old soldier, but don't miss it.

JR

 

[gyraf]

Congrats, CJ!

I'm still on my first Weller TCP24 - I got mine in 1982 when I was 17 and an apprentice in a local electronics company. Was old and beaten-up already at that time (iron, not me).

Replaced switch some 10 years ago, cable some 3 years ago.

For EU/ROHS soldering, I go through 2-3 tips/year. At civilized SnPb, the tip lasts many years. Always no.7

Jakob E.

 

[Andy Peters]

I don't like Weller soldering irons. The techs used them for donkeys years at work so I treated myself to one when I retired. Damn thing would never get hot enough. The one I bought went obsolete and so you could no longer get tips for it. Didn't fancy shelling out a load of dosh for a new one. So I went back to my first love - Antex. Nice compact iron, will heat anything and melt the solder quickly and evenly. Current model so I could get lots of different size/shape bits.

We are all Metcal all the time here.

 

[kambo]

We are all Metcal all the time here.

yup, Metcal rocks , i have PS1100

 

[mjrippe]

Am I the only one rocking a "vintage" Pace SensaTemp solder/desolder station?  I've had it for about a decade and it was second hand when I bought it.  Great for everyday use, tips for both solder and de-solder are still available. 

 

[fum]

I think I'm down to 3 metcal stations in the shop, after I sent one off with a friend.

I run the older RFG-30 metcal stations, not the OKI stuff.

Bought them all used, and have been rocking them all for >10 years.

Tips come up to temp quick, and last a long time

 

[PRR]

Am I the only one rocking a "vintage" Vulcan? It's Electric!

 

[Tubetec]

Holy hell PRR, ;D
That looks like something  they use to cauterize the wounds on a bulls head  after they chop his horns off .

 

[moamps]

I used Wellers (TCP and WECP) many years, switched to Metcal at HF two years ago,  modded Weller TCPS is used only for field work.  Metcal is too bulky for Bernstein case  8).

 

[ruffrecords]

Holy hell PRR, ;D
That looks like something  they use to cauterize the wounds on a bulls head  after they chop his horns off .

Mr. Spock gave it to him.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Tubetec]

Ahhhhhhah, pilfered from Scottys tool chest then .

Those vertical boards on the V3 look interesting Ian ,I might try a couple once I get a hold of the danner cassette modules ,Ive got a consignment of fourteen modules on there way from Outlaw .

 

[Gold]

Am I the only one rocking a "vintage" Vulcan? It's Electric!

I have an American Beauty that looks like that. I use it for things that don't like to be soldered like brass binding posts.

 

[Brian Roth]

I have an American Beauty that looks like that. I use it for things that don't like to be soldered like brass binding posts.

150 Watt Weller "solder gun" I bought years ago!  Always have to futz with the bent copper tip to keep decent contact.

Bri

.

 

[Gold]

I got a 200W American Beauty. When that thing gets going after 15:00-20:00 it starts shaking and buzzing. It's a bad mofo. I've never met anything it wouldn't solder with some flux.

I have the modern style Weller WD1 and WRS1200 desoldering station. I like them but I got them at deep discounts. Weller is kind of expensive compared to others. If I had to buy new stuff I'd get a Metcal or Haako depending on how much I could spend. Metcal only made desoldering stations that use shop air last time I looked so I'd probably get a self contained Haako.

 

[Gold]

For on the go and when I have to crawl around something , I like a Weller WP60. 60W and maintains temperature pretty well. That model has been unchanged for as long as I can remember.

 

[Rob Flinn]

I don't like Weller soldering irons. The techs used them for donkeys years at work so I treated myself to one when I retired. Damn thing would never get hot enough. The one I bought went obsolete and so you could no longer get tips for it. Didn't fancy shelling out a load of dosh for a new one. So I went back to my first love - Antex. Nice compact iron, will heat anything and melt the solder quickly and evenly. Current model so I could get lots of different size/shape bits.

Cheers

Ian

I have to say I have completely the opposite experience to you.  I have known several people buy ANTEX irons over the years & have found them pretty much unusable in that they heat up a blob of solder that rolls around the tip but the iron is unable to heat the surfaces being soldered.   

I have used Weller TCP for 30 years now.  I have 2 of them one with the 3m lead for when I am doing large mixing desks so I don't have to replug the iron when I switch ends of the console.      I had one experience when the heating element died when I was at a high profile clients house,  I got a friend to get me a Goldstar iron from Maplin to finish the job which was a temperature controlled thing.  It died within 3 months.          I also have the 60w version that plugs directly into the mains, which is good too.  The best thing with the TCP magnastat irons is that it is simple & there is not much to go wrong.  The worst thing is the colour of the iron.  I recently had someone say to me the colour remonds them of 60's hospital equipment ......        I can put up with the colour.